PFAS Press

On May 29, 2025, David Quigley (head of Akin’s Environment & Natural Resources Section) led a discussion among Katrina Kessler (Commissioner, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency), Susanne Miller (Bureau Director, Maine Department of Environmental Protection), Amy Rousseau (PFAS Response Coordinator, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services) and Joaquin Esquivel (Board Chair, California State Water Resources Control Board) at a State Regulators Roundtable hosted by the American Conference Institute during its 2nd annual summit on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulation, compliance and litigation. Key takeaways from the discussion included the following:

On May 12, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an interim final rule to amend the reporting period under the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting rules issued in October 2023 under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). The rules require entities that manufactured or imported PFAS and/or PFAS-containing articles between January 2011 and December 2022 to report certain data. EPA first established a reporting window of November 12, 2024, to May 8, 2025. The window was moved to July 2025 to January 2026 (or July 2026 for small manufacturers exclusively importing regulated products) due to delays in development of the Central Data Exchange (CDX), EPA’s web-based reporting tool for information submitted under the TSCA PFAS reporting rules. If finalized, EPA’s proposed rule will again change the data submission period to April 13, 2026, to October 13, 2026, to allow the Agency “more time to prepare the reporting application to collect this data.” Note that the end date for small manufacturers reporting exclusively as article importers of regulated products will shift to April 13, 2027.

After addressing a number of other programs over the first 100 days of the new administration, on April 28, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally addressed PFAS. Administrator Lee Zeldin outlined a number of actions—old and new—aimed at manufacturers and importers of PFAS and PFAS-containing products with an emphasis on “sound science” and the need for more robust data on PFAS toxicity.

In many ways, Maine and Minnesota had the first words on the regulation of PFAS in the U.S. Their broad definitions of the chemicals set the stage for similar regulation across the continent. So when legislators in both states nearly simultaneously propose to shrink those definitions, it bears watching.

On February 3-5, the PLASTICS’ Fluoropolymers Conference gathered several professionals involved with fluoropolymers to discuss the latest challenges, opportunities and technological shifts that are defining the fluoropolymer industry.

As we turn to 2025 and a new administration, there are a few areas of PFAS law worth watching in the short term, including the regulation of the chemicals in water and their treatment under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

Our series on the impact of the election on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) policy takes us to the Senate, where Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) indicated in a hearing that the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (which she will chair) will continue to pursue PFAS.

Much will be written about the impact of the election on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) policy over the coming months (or even years), and we imagine many of our updates over that time will analyze this, as well. These impacts may present in the form of continued budgetary and technical challenges for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) such as those that led to a delay in implementation of the PFAS Reporting Rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). That said, given that PFAS is largely seen as a bipartisan issue (as evinced by the first Trump administration’s introduction of a PFAS Action Plan in 2019), we do not expect wholesale changes to existing PFAS rules, though the second Trump administration may ease regulatory thresholds and reporting deadlines relating to PFAS. As a consequence of federal developments, we expect state activity to remain steady, if not increase, in response to concerns that federal implementation may lessen. Unfortunately, this may mean the patchwork of state regulations and laws around PFAS may grow, imposing significant compliance burdens on regulated entities (which, ironically, may lead the federal government to increase its involvement).

On May 8, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its final rule designating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).